In pictures: Whicker's World

Broadcaster Alan Whicker, who has died aged 87, is best known for his travel documentary series Whicker's World that spanned nearly three decades.

Following a stint as a journalist on Fleet Street and a reporter in the Korean War, Whicker joined BBC television in 1957 to work as a correspondent on the flagship current affairs Tonight programme.

Whicker fronted a series of off-beat reports from across the UK for the Tonight show. One of his early investigations was into the elite world of the Quorn hunt, which was established in 1696. But it was his first foreign report, from Venice in 1958 at the age of 32, that started his globetrotting.

The Whicker's World series, which started in 1959, made the broadcaster a household name. Running over 30 years, it brought a glimpse of the exotic jet-set world into the UK's living rooms.

Reporting on the unusual and bizarre from across the world, Whicker would also tackle hard issues such as the rebel bandits in Sardinia in 1968 (pictured).

Actors, dictators, racing drivers and millionaires were subjected to Whicker's questioning. In 1963, he achieved a coup with the first ever television interview with oil magnate John Paul Getty. The hour-long special The Solitary Billionaire, which saw Getty as a lonely recluse in his Surrey mansion, was a ratings success.

Whicker's style was regularly parodied, most famously by comedy group Monty Python. The sketch, about a mythical place called Whicker Island populated by Alan look-alikes, saw the Pythons dressed in Whicker's characteristic sharp suit and thick-rimmed glasses.

In 1968, Whicker helped to set up Yorkshire Television and Whicker's World transferred with him to ITV. After winning a number of Bafta nominations and awards, the programme moved back to the BBC in 1982.

The veteran broadcaster's travels continued into his 80s. He took a Journey of a Lifetime in 2009 (shown here on the Orient Express) for a BBC Two programme that saw him revisiting a number of his favourite locations around the world.